Download or read book Conservation Genetics written by V. Loeschcke and published by Birkhäuser. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It follows naturally from the widely accepted Darwinian dictum that failures of populations or of species to adapt and to evolve under changing environments will result in their extinction. Population geneti cists have proclaimed a centerstage role in developing conservation biology theory and applications. However, we must critically reexamine what we know and how we can make rational contributions. We ask: Is genetic variation really important for the persistence of species? Has any species become extinct because it ran out of genetic variation or because of inbreeding depression? Are demographic and environmental stochas ticity by far more important for the fate of a population or species than genetic stochasticity (genetic drift and inbreeding)? Is there more to genetics than being a tool for assessing reproductive units and migration rates? Does conventional wisdom on inbreeding and "magic numbers" or rules of thumb on critical effective population sizes (MVP estimators) reflect any useful guidelines in conservation biology? What messages or guidelines from genetics can we reliably provide to those that work with conservation in practice? Is empirical work on numerous threatened habitats and taxa gathering population genetic information that we can use to test these guidelines? These and other questions were raised in the invitation to a symposium on conservation genetics held in May 1993 in pleasant surroundings at an old manor house in southern Jutland, Denmark.
Download or read book Social Behaviour written by Tamás Székely and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-18 with total page 575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive analysis of the genetic, ecological and phylogenetic aspects of social behaviour, by experts in the field.
Download or read book Methods in Genomic Neuroscience written by Hemin R. Chin and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2001-09-26 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past few years have witnessed extraordinary advances in molecular genetic techniques and the accumulation of structural genomics information and resources in both human and model organisms. With the development of new technologies and the availability of resources like the sequence of eukaryotic genomes, problems of a previously unthinkable sco
Download or read book Next Steps for Functional Genomics written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the holy grails in biology is the ability to predict functional characteristics from an organism's genetic sequence. Despite decades of research since the first sequencing of an organism in 1995, scientists still do not understand exactly how the information in genes is converted into an organism's phenotype, its physical characteristics. Functional genomics attempts to make use of the vast wealth of data from "-omics" screens and projects to describe gene and protein functions and interactions. A February 2020 workshop was held to determine research needs to advance the field of functional genomics over the next 10-20 years. Speakers and participants discussed goals, strategies, and technical needs to allow functional genomics to contribute to the advancement of basic knowledge and its applications that would benefit society. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
Download or read book Behavioral Genetics of the Fly Drosophila Melanogaster written by Josh Dubnau and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-06-26 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive portrayal of the behaviour genetics of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and the methods used in these studies.
Download or read book Adaptation and Fitness in Animal Populations written by Julius van der Werf and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-10-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fitness and adaptation are fundamental characteristics of plant and animal species, enabling them to survive in their environment and to adapt to the inevitable changes in this environment. This is true for both the genetic resources of natural ecosystems as well as those used in agricultural production. Extensive genetic variation exists between varieties/breeds in a species and amongst individuals within breeds. This variation has developed over very long periods of time. A major ongoing challenge is how to best utilize this variation to meet short-term demands whilst also conserving it for longer-term possible use. Many animal breeding programs have led to increased performance for production traits but this has often been accompanied by reduced fitness. In addition, the global use of genetic resources prompts the question whether introduced genotypes are adapted to local production systems. Understanding the genetic nature of fitness and adaptation will enable us to better manage genetic resources allowing us to make efficient and sustainable decisions for the improvement or breeding of these resources. This book had an ambitious goal in bringing together a sample of the world’s leading scientists in animal breeding and evolutionary genetics to exchange knowledge to advance our understanding of these vital issues.
Download or read book Niche Construction written by F. John Odling-Smee and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seemingly innocent observation that the activities of organisms bring about changes in environments is so obvious that it seems an unlikely focus for a new line of thinking about evolution. Yet niche construction--as this process of organism-driven environmental modification is known--has hidden complexities. By transforming biotic and abiotic sources of natural selection in external environments, niche construction generates feedback in evolution on a scale hitherto underestimated--and in a manner that transforms the evolutionary dynamic. It also plays a critical role in ecology, supporting ecosystem engineering and influencing the flow of energy and nutrients through ecosystems. Despite this, niche construction has been given short shrift in theoretical biology, in part because it cannot be fully understood within the framework of standard evolutionary theory. Wedding evolution and ecology, this book extends evolutionary theory by formally including niche construction and ecological inheritance as additional evolutionary processes. The authors support their historic move with empirical data, theoretical population genetics, and conceptual models. They also describe new research methods capable of testing the theory. They demonstrate how their theory can resolve long-standing problems in ecology, particularly by advancing the sorely needed synthesis of ecology and evolution, and how it offers an evolutionary basis for the human sciences. Already hailed as a pioneering work by some of the world's most influential biologists, this is a rare, potentially field-changing contribution to the biological sciences.
Download or read book Biodiversity and Ecophysiology of Yeasts written by Carlos Augusto Rosa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-03-30 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last few decades more and more yeast habitats have been explored, spanning cold climates to tropical regions and dry deserts to rainforests. As a result, a large body of ecological data has been accumulated and the number of known yeast species has increased rapidly. This book provides an overview of the biodiversity of yeasts in different habitats. Recent advances achieved by the application of molecular biological methods in the field of yeast taxonomy and ecology are also incorporated in the book. Wherever possible, the interaction between yeasts and the surrounding environment is discussed.
Download or read book Drosophila melanogaster Drosophila simulans So Similar So Different written by Pierre Capy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2012-10-08 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparison of closely related species is a powerful D. melanogaster. In D. melanogaster, microsatel approach to understanding the changes that have oc lites reveal that West African popUlations are more curred since their divergence from a common ancestor. closely related to non-African populations than to The sibling species Drosophila melanogaster and D. East African popUlations. East African populations are simulans are probably the species pair for which the more variable than West African or non-African popu most genetic data are available. A workshop held at lations, suggesting that East African populations may 1 Gif/Yvette in January 2002 reviewed and discussed more closely reflect African ancestral variability. comparisons between these species, from their ecol Ecophysiology, popUlation dynamics and popula tion structure are also important to understanding the ogy and biogeography to their behavior and DNA evolution of the two species. Genetic diversity (8) polymorphism. is higher in D. simulans (S. Mousset and R. Singh).
Download or read book Statistical Population Genomics written by Julien Y Dutheil and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access volume presents state-of-the-art inference methods in population genomics, focusing on data analysis based on rigorous statistical techniques. After introducing general concepts related to the biology of genomes and their evolution, the book covers state-of-the-art methods for the analysis of genomes in populations, including demography inference, population structure analysis and detection of selection, using both model-based inference and simulation procedures. Last but not least, it offers an overview of the current knowledge acquired by applying such methods to a large variety of eukaryotic organisms. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, pointers to the relevant literature, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Statistical Population Genomics aims to promote and ensure successful applications of population genomic methods to an increasing number of model systems and biological questions. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.
Download or read book Methuselah Flies written by Michael Robertson Rose and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2004 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Methuselah Flies presents a trailblazing project on the biology of aging. It describes research on the first organisms to have their lifespan increased, and their aging slowed, by hereditary manipulation. These organisms are fruit flies from the species Drosophila melanogaster, the great workhorse of genetics. Michael Rose and his colleagues have been able to double the lifespan of these insects, and improved their health in numerous respects as well. The study of these flies with postponed aging is one of the best means we have of understanding, and ultimately achieving, the postponement of aging in humans. As such, the carefully presented detail of this book will be of value to research devoted to the understanding and control of aging.Methuselah Flies: ? is a tightly edited distillation of twenty years of work by many scientists? contains the original publications regarding the longer-lived fruit flies? offers commentaries on each of the topics covered ? new, short essays that put the individual research papers in a wider context? gives full access to the original data ? captures the scientific significance of postponed aging for a wide academic audienc
Download or read book Evolutionary Genetics and Environmental Stress written by Ary A. Hoffmann and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 1993 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now available in paper, this stimulating book concentrates on evolutionary change under environmental stress at levels ranging from the molecular to the biogeographic, with an emphasis on genetic aspects. This approach contrasts with most of the literature of evolutionary biology, as theemphasis here is upon the extreme end of the stress gradient in terms of resistance. Major topics in this interdisciplinary book include the concept of stress and its evolutionary and ecological importance; genetic variation in stress response and the effects of stress on genetic variation; and costs and trade-offs involving stress responses. An approach to stress resistance interms of energetics permits the development of links between genetics, ecology, physiology, and behaviour. The book concludes with applications concerning range expansions of species, conservation strategies, and pollution effects.
Download or read book Evolution in Changing Environments written by Richard Levins and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1968-08-21 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Levins, one of the leading explorers in the field of integrated population biology, considers the mutual interpenetration and joint evolution of organism and environment, occurring on several levels at once. Physiological and behavioral adaptations to short-term fluctuations of the environment condition the responses of populations to long-term changes and geographic gradients. These in turn affect the way species divide the environments among themselves in communities, and, therefore, the numbers of species which can coexist. Environment is treated here abstractly as pattern: patchiness, variability, range, etc. Populations are studied in their patterns: local heterogeneity, geographic variability, faunistic diversity, etc.
Download or read book Environmental Stress Adaptation and Evolution written by Rudolf Bijlsma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1997-09-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most organisms and populations have to cope with hostile environments, threatening their existence. Their ability to respond phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve adaptive mechanisms is, therefore, crucial. The contributions to this book aim at understanding, from a evolutionary perspective, the impact of stress on biological systems. Scientists, applying different approaches spanning from the molecular and the protein level to individuals, populations and ecosystems, explore how organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress changes genetic structure and affects life histories, how organisms cope with thermal stress through acclimation, and how environmental and genetic stress induce fluctuating asymmetry, shape selection pressure and cause extinction of populations. Finally, it discusses the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress induced mutations and selection to speciation and evolution at the geological time scale. The book contains reviews and novel scientific results on the subject. It will be of interest to both researchers and graduate students and may serve as a text for graduate courses.
Download or read book A Primer of Ecological Genetics written by Jeffrey K. Conner and published by Sinauer Associates Incorporated. This book was released on 2004-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers basic concepts in population and quantitative genetics, including measuring selection on phenotypic traits. The emphasis is on material applicable to field studies of evolution focusing on ecologically important traits. Topics addressed are critical for training students in ecology, evolution, conservation biology, agriculture, forestry, and wildlife management. Many texts in this field are too complex and mathematical to allow the average beginning student to readily grasp the key concepts. A Primer of Ecological Genetics, in contrast, employs mathematics and statistics-fully explained, but at a less advanced level-as tools to improve understanding of biological principles. The main goal is to enable students to understand the concepts well enough that they can gain entry into the primary literature. Integration of the different chapters of the book shows students how diverse concepts relate to each other.
Download or read book Extracellular Composite Matrices in Arthropods written by Ephraim Cohen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emphasis is placed on the elaborate cuticular matrices in insects and crustaceans, spider and insect silks, sialomes of phytophagous and blood-feeding arthropods as well as on secretions of male and female accessory glands. Focus is placed largely on insects, due to the extensive body of published research that in part is the result of available whole genome sequences of several model species (in particular Drosophila melanogaster) and accessible ESTs for other species. Such advances have facilitated fundamental insights into genomic, proteomic and molecular biology-based physiology. This new volume contains comprehensive contributions on extracellular composite matrices in arthropods. The building blocks of such matrices are formed in and secreted by single layered epithelial cells into exterior domains where their final assembly takes place.Additionally, the unique mechanical properties of natural biocomposites like chitin/chitosan, the crustacean mineralized exoskeleton, the pliant protein resilin or insect and spider silks, have inspired basic and applied research that yield sophistical biomimetics and structural biocomposite hybrids important for future industrial and biomedical use. In summary, this book provides an invaluable vast source of basic and applied information for a plethora of scientists as well as textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
Download or read book Drosophila Inversion Polymorphism written by Costas B. Krimbas and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1992-08-21 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inversion polymorphism in Drosophila has long served as a research subject for a variety of evolutionary studies and continues to be extremely important in understanding evolutionary principles today. Until now, no single volume has ever been assembled as a summary of this work. Drosophila Inversion Polymorphism provides background information, explores new and rigorous approaches to reconstructing phylogenetic relationships from inversion variation, and discusses inversion polymorphism in the six most studied species groups. Some chapters examine general principles and conclusions, some present detailed data sets (many of which have never before been published), and others offer detailed chromosome maps for identification. The book is a one-of-a-kind source of summary discussions and data ripe for analysis. Geneticists, evolutionary biologists, biologists, and all investigators researching inversion polymorphisms should consider Drosophila Inversion Polymorphism a "must-have" volume.
